"a new national survey released by ncoa
revealed that 43% of osteoarthritis
patients who previously used prescription
medication, have stopped using them.%u201D
the national council on the aging recently
published the results from a survey of
1,000 adults who were previously diagnosed
with oa (osteoarthritis). Comparing the
results with a similar ncoa survey from
2004 revealed many changes in the
treatment trends of oa sufferers.
Patients age 50-65 reported a drastic
increase in their pursuit of non-operative
and alternative treatment options. A
surprising number of patients reported
that they discontinued the use of
prescription medication entirely.
Pharmaceutical industry pundits may argue
that these changes are an indirect result
of the recent fda report that found cox-2
inhibitors to be unsafe. Physicians
were left with few effective medications
for the treatment of arthritis. Its
possible that a majority of the 43% who
quit using medication had no other choice
because cox-2 inhibitors were the only
treatment that worked. They had to seek
alternative options in the hope of finding
some relief from the pain and stiffness
associated with oa. As a result,
pharmaceutical companies have lost a
sizable piece of the market to medical
alternatives like herbs, nutritional
supplements, acupuncture, relaxation
techniques and the like. Which could be
why they are considering alternative
approaches to developing safe prescription
medications.
A new approach that is attracting a lot of
attention from physicians is called
%u201Crx medical nutrition%u201D. This
approach attempts to safely manage the
nutritional requirements of oa patients
with extremely high levels of natural
food-based ingredients. Research has
already been conducted to see if rx
medical nutrition is a safe and effective
approach to treating oa. Both animal
studies and human clinical trials
demonstrated a significant reduction of
pain and stiffness and an increase in
joint mobility. Animals showed no
significant side effects even when given
doses 20 times the equivalent human dose.
Humans reported no significant side
effects as well. The conclusive
results from all the studies prove that
the resulting prescription medication is a
safe and effective treatment for oa
sufferers.
One company has already released a
prescription medication (limbrel) that was
formulated using the rx medical nutrition
approach. It contains a proprietary
blend of nutrients to safely meet the
distinctive nutritional requirements of
patients with oa. It is classified by
the fda as a %u201Cmedical food%u201D
product and is generally recognized as
safe. It is not for use by children
under the age of 18 or women who are
pregnant or nursing. The best part is
that there are no side affects other than
those associated with an allergic
reaction.
The rx medical nutrition approach looks to
be a viable alternative to the traditional
pharmaceutical methods. Time will tell
if the resulting oa medication will
provide the kind of relief that patients
desire. One thing is for certain,
thousands of oa sufferers would welcome
the opportunity to find a new way to
relieve their symptoms.
Ncoa survey results
http://
www.Ncoa.Org/content.Cfm?Sectionid=61&deta
il=1023
